Return of the Frozen Player

“My vision started swimming as soon as I got bitten. My heart started beating faster, and there was also this burning thirst that made me feel like vomiting.”

“Hmm…” The Frost Queen closed her eyes tightly and nodded a couple of times with a serious look on her face as if everything was exactly as she had expected. She gestured with her hand, signaling Rahmadat to go on.

“Go on, Watson.”

“I’m Rahmadat.”

“...Whatever. Just continue.”

“What do you think I could have done? I just ripped off a chunk of my neck where I was bitten, and I also tore a chunk of my shoulder for good measure. I figured that I shouldn’t let that blood spread all over my body.”

“Hm. That was smart of you.”

“So, kiddo. What do you think he is?”

The Frost Queen slightly raised her chin at Rahmadat’s question before turning to look at someone else.

“Inspector Lestrade. What do you think?”

“I’m sorry? I’m Gong Ju-Ha.”

“...” The Frost Queen’s excitement disappeared when she realized that no one was willing to play along with her.

Skaya stared at the Frost Queen beside her, seemingly waiting for the Frost Queen to offer her the role of Watson after Rahmadat refused to take on the role. Unfortunately, the Frost Queen simply ignored her.

With that being said, the Frost Queen stopped playing detective and took off her beret.

“It’s a vampire.”

“A vampire?”

“Are you talking about those bloodsuckers?”

Everyone’s expression turned grim.

“This is bad. If those vampires are the same vampires we know from those tales, it’ll be the end for us the moment we get bitten.”

“Will Si-Eun’s Breath of Restoration work on their bites?”

“Well, I won’t know for sure until I get to try.”

Everything seemed uncertain, but one thing was clear—they were in danger.

Setting aside Rahmadat, there was a huge chance that anyone else would turn into one of those vampires once they were bitten.

“In the worst-case scenario, we’ll end up turning against each other.”

“Which means that we have to avoid getting bitten at all costs.”

“I think we don’t have to worry that much. That guy wasn’t that strong,” Rahmadat said while scratching his trapezius muscle.

“No. I wouldn’t say so,” The Frost Queen said with a serious look, “If there really are vampires in this city, then there must be a True Vampire as well.”

“A True Vampire? What is that?”

“Let me show it to you so it’s easier to understand,” said the Frost Queen as she retrieved a sketchbook and started drawing something with crayons. “There, it’s all done. What do you think this drawing is depicting?”

Skaya raised her hand and replied, “A multi-level metric?”

“Correct.”

The Frost Queen’s drawing was easy to understand. She drew a typical pyramid with one humanoid figure on the very top, then two below that, and so on. The number of humans on each level increased the lower they were on the pyramid.

Kim Woo-Joong carefully examined the Frost Queen’s drawing and said, “Does this mean that the one on the very top of the pyramid is a True Vampire?”

“Exactly. They’re very strong.”

“Do you mean compared to normal vampires?”

“It would be convenient to think that the difference between their strength is similar to the difference in strength between fiends and demons.”

“I see…”

Everyone looked grim at the Frost Queen’s explanation.

“This is the worst.” Skaya clicked her tongue.

Rahmadat asked, “What do you mean it’s the worst? I think we stand a chance no matter how strong a True Vampire is...”

“You idiot. He didn’t recognize you.”

“Of course. He has never seen me before, so how could he recognize me?”

“It’s not as simple as that. You said that his attitude immediately changed when he saw your regeneration skill, didn't you?”

“Oh! Are you trying to say that…” Cha Si-Eun trailed off and covered her mouth with her hand. She shivered and continued. “...there might be more than one True Vampire?”

Skaya nodded as the eyes of the party all turned toward her at once.

“I think so, but for now, it’s just one of the many possibilities.”

Skaya figured that Rahmadat’s opponent would have recognized the True Vampire’s face if there were only one True Vampire in this city.

“I think he simply noticed that Rahmadat is extraordinary. Of course, there’s also the extremely rare chance that a True Vampire out there looks exactly like Rahmadat.”

Rahmadat could still recall how the vampire became humble and started asking about what mistake he had committed.

“He was probably thinking that Rahmadat was probably one of the many True Vampires that he doesn’t recognize.”

They were thinking out of the box here. It was necessary to think out of the box because simply thinking along the lines of what they knew would limit their imagination and thoughts within that box.

“Hey, don’t you think that’s going too far? Maybe he just backed away because he recognized that Rahmadat is stronger than him?”

“Maybe. That’s why I said that it’s just one of the possibilities.”

“Hmm…”

The party sighed briefly. They hoped Skaya’s hypothesis would end up being nothing more than just a hypothesis. The difficulty of clearing the quest would go up exponentially if there really were more than one True Vampire.

“Well, let’s not get too scared. I mean, we still have no idea what True Vampires can do and just how strong they really are.”

“Fair enough,” Skaya sighed and went on. “Anyway, I have good news that I’m sure will lighten the mood here.”

“Good news? What is it?”

Everyone stared at Skaya with anticipation.

Skaya swept his gaze across the others and grinned.

“Jun-Ho is back, and he’s in great condition.”

“I knew it!”

The group clenched their fists in joy. They had always believed that Seo Jun-Ho would return one day without even a single scratch on him.

“Did they say where he had been?” Rahmadat asked.

“They said he was abducted to the 9th Floor.”

“What the hell?”

“The perpetrator is apparently a count of Underworld’s nobility. They set up a trap to bring Jun-Ho over to the 9th Floor after judging that Jun-Ho is a threat.”

“And he managed to come back alive?”

“He got lucky because the Administrator of the 2nd Floor brought him back personally.”

Skaya’s news was a piece of extremely good news for the group. The group heaved sighs of relief and revealed warm smiles.

Skaya tilted her head, seemingly baffled. “Hm?”

The Frost Queen’s eyes twinkling eyes were staring up at her. She looked cuter and more adorable than usual, but the look in her eyes made Skaya feel anxious for some reason.

“Um, why is our queen looking at me like that?”

“Did Contractor leave any message for me?”

“...” Skaya wanted to tell the Frost Queen that Seo Jun-Ho didn’t leave any message for her, but she hesitated because she knew that the Frost Queen would be sad and disappointed if she heard that.

‘Oh, no.What should I say?’

Skaya started looking around for help.

Rahmadat saw that and spoke, “Looking at Skaya’s face, It seems that he didn’t leave any message for you. I’m sorry, kiddo.”

“Hey!” Skaya exclaimed.

The Frost Queen crouched with a downcast look.

Skaya hurriedly tried to come up with an excuse. “T-that’s not true! Jun-Ho said that he wants to come back here as soon as possible because he’s missing you, but…”

“...But?”

“Ugh…”

Skaya bit her lips. Obviously, she was lying. After announcing that he was still alive, the troublemaker, Seo Jun-Ho, disappeared once again.

‘Couldn’t he tell us personally that he’s going to leave? Our queen looks so sad and disappointed here…!’

Skaya gently patted the Frost Queen’s head.

“Let’s just wait a few more days. I’m sure Jun-Ho will return after a hundred days.”

“A hundred days? Hah! Do you really think that I’m a kid or something?” The Frost Queen puffed her cheeks and glared at Skaya before continuing. “A hundred days is too long!”

“Then, ten days.”

“Okay, fine. Ten days.”

When the negotiations were done, Skaya sighed in relief.

‘Huh?’

Skaya turned toward the man staring at her without saying anything.

“What do you want?”

“...Nothing.”

Kim Woo-Joong couldn’t bear to ask the same question as the Frost Queen.

***

“I’m done gathering the information we need...”

A holographic display unsuitable for an old stale room appeared in mid-air. The presenter was Skaya Killiland. She summed up the information she had gathered over the past few days.

“We’re currently in the city of Trium. Trium is currently in an era similar to that of London during the Industrial Revolution.”

Trium’s society was strange, but it had social classes as well. Wagons and cars coexisted, and an unpleasant red fog would sweep over the city every night. The strange phenomenon apparently started half a year ago.

“Everyone here agrees that one of the True Vampires is the Floor Master of the 6th Floor, right?”

Everyone nodded in response.

“Then, where do you think we should start tracking them down?”

“Hmm. To be honest, I have no idea where to start. This city is just too big.”

“Can’t we just continue what we have been doing?”

“We can try and make connections with government officials to dig for more information with their help.”

“No, that will be too inefficient, and it’s going to take too much time as well,” Skaya responded in a firm voice.

She then flipped over to the next page of her report.

“I’m suspicious about Foggyism. It’s a religion that emerged six months ago, and it’s enjoying a meteoric rise as we speak.”

“Foggyism? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a religion before.”

“They were evangelizing on the shopping street. I listened to them for a bit out of curiosity, and I noticed something strange.”

According to Skaya’s explanation, Foggyism was indeed a suspicious religion. Their doctrine was simple and brief—the red fog came from God, so it had to be worshiped.

Rahmadat laughed as if he found it both hilarious and absurd. “...Does anyone actually believe in such a thing?”

“To your surprise, many do believe in it. I also saw many people being swayed by Foggyism in the rallies.”

The eyes of everyone in the group started shining.

“That’s definitely suspicious..”

“Maybe the people in the rallies are already vampires?”

“Goodness…! If that’s true, then everyone in this world would soon become vampires.”

“That is very much possible if those bastards are given enough time.”

Trium had a population of 7.2 million people. The group frowned at the thought of having to deal with 7.2 million vampires.

“We will fail the quest. We can brute force our way to quest completion, but we…”

“We will have to prepare for a much bigger war than on the 5th Floor.”

“Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it. I almost died on the 5th Floor.”

“So, are you suggesting that all of us should participate in the rally?” Gong Ju-Ha asked. She looked like she was fed up with everything.

“Yes. It’s safer for us to move as a group rather than to scatter. After all, we have no idea what the enemies are up to.”

The group decided to stay together and participate in a Foggyism rally. This way, it would be easier for them to mark their enemies, especially if the entire religion was really created by the vampires.

After a few days of investigation, the scout team finally came up with a plan.

***

“We’re giving out free bread to those who will participate in the Foggyism rally!”

“There will be job offers to the jobless at the rally!”

“Those with no dating experience can even get married upon joining us!”

The missionaries of Foggyism were working hard to preach.

Rahmadat couldn’t help but laugh upon seeing them.

“What are they doing? They’re literally offering the best possible offers out there.”

In addition to offering free food and jobs, the missionaries of Foggyism even promised to help people find their significant others. The missionaries made many sweet offers that would make people glance their way at least once.

“I’m actually getting curious. Let’s go.”

The missionaries flinched as a group of five approached them.

“What, what is it?” the missionary asked.

“We’d like to participate in the rally that you’re talking about.”

“...” The missionary swept his gaze across them. His mood seemed sour, but he still nodded and replied, “All right. Then, come to the Follow Church by seven this evening. Refer to this map for the location of the church.”

The group then headed to the church on time.

“There are more people here than I thought…”

“They’re offering a lot, after all.”

As the group sat on a worship bench, people clad in priest uniforms appeared one by one on the platform.

“First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the citizens of Trium for participating in this rally…This meaningful gathering is also led by the red fog to…”

Rahmadat yawned as the boring speech of one of the priests continued.

After a while, the priest finally concluded his speech by drawing the sign of the cross over his chest. “I would like to thank the Holy Father for providing us with our bread today.”

“Oh, are they giving us food now?”

Bang!

There was a loud noise as the thick doors of the church were forcibly closed. Then, someone locked the doors tightly with a thick wooden latch to prevent people from escaping. It seemed that there would be no food for the people here tonight.

“...Hm,” Rahmadat crossed his arms. “I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels this way, but…”

Rahmadat briefly glanced around and said, “I think we’re the food.”

“I don’t think you’re wrong.” Gong Ju-Ha sighed and snapped her fingers as if she were striking a flint to make a fire.

“It seems that the purpose of this rally is far from what we had in mind…”

The group thought the purpose of the rally was to turn the participants into vampires, but they were mistaken.

“I guess the rallies are a way for vampires to gather and feed on unsuspecting participants like us.”

The group finally noticed that everyone else around them was staring at them, and one by one, long canines protruded between the lips of everyone else.